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Pirates impressed by new Miami park

Pirates impressed by new Miami park

Chris Resop

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MIAMI -- Most Pirates remember the Marlins' old home as a difficult and uncomfortable place to play. Chris Resop remembers it as his first big league home.

The right-hander broke into the Majors with the Marlins and called Sun Life Stadium home for parts of two seasons. But Resop does not miss the old stadium much after getting his first look at Marlins Park.

"It's a nice stadium," Resop said. "Any time you come into something new, it's cool. Walking around and trying to find where things are has been interesting. It's a nice park. I know these guys are real proud of what they've done. I'm sure the players are real excited to have a new stadium."

Pirates manager Clint Hurdle is also very impressed with the newest ballpark in Major League Baseball.

"It's much improved over the football field we were playing in," Hurdle said. "From what I understand, the fans have been here and it's been electric. They've already saved a handful of games from the weather with roof coverage."

After years of dealing with heat, humidity, rain and poor lighting, Andrew McCutchen is looking forward to the improved playing conditions at Marlins Park.
"You forget about how hot it is here sometimes, so it's good to be here in the new stadium," McCutchen said. "Hopefully they keep the roof closed. It will be good to play in a stadium with better lighting than the last stadium, too."

In addition to improved playing conditions, Resop believes Marlins Park will provide a better atmosphere, and that is something both teams can benefit from.

"This is a baseball stadium," Resop said. "First and foremost, when you walked into the old stadium, you knew it was a football stadium. If you had 25,000 people, there it looked like you had 5,000. It's a place that seats 80,000 people, and you can't even put a dent in that."

"You come here and you can tell it's a baseball field," Resop said. "It's shaped like a baseball field and there aren't any retractable seats moving around to try and make it ready for baseball like at the old place. This is definitely a real nice park. The only unfortunate part is we're only here for two days."